Within a Vampire's Eyes: The Beauty Underneath
by FangirlForever-N-Love
Summary: The Phantom still haunts the Opera House & unknowingly becomes her angel of music. When Bella moves to Forks, she finds everything isn't as it seems. Bella and Sarah are friends, & how will Bella react when she hears that Sarah already knew the Cullen secret? I don't own PotO or Twilight, or chapter titles! All songs and chapter titles are accredited to their various artists!
1. Reality Sets In

So, um, I heard from a friend of mine that there was a 100 Theme prompt, and I had started writing this last fall. But, I, uh, didn't find it until just now, and I'm still stuck on Breaking Dawn... So, um... ideas would be very much appreciated! I don't own Twilight or the Phantom of the Opera!

Oh, and I, ah, updated it like it was requested to! I switched the topic over from "8: Innocence" to the one it is now because Vampires have to "breathe again" as they take in their new world, almost like being born again... um... I'm sorry if that's a lame reason, it was the only one I could find that I have out of the ones that were left that fit!

* * *

10: Breathe Again

Erik had hated having to let Raoul take Christine. He loved her, of that he was sure, but the pain hadn't dulled. Yet here he was a year later still trying to come to terms with her leaving with that thrice-accursed Vicomte de Chagny. Time had only made the ache worse for him, and finally he considered even taking his own life.

But just as he was about to hang himself with his trusted Punjab lasso, he found himself jerked out of his lair faster than he could say "Opera" only to find that he was in pain.

...

Erik opened his eyes and began looking around. His lair was so much dirtier than he remembered, and he immediately went to get into the boat on the lake, only to accidentally break it and fall in. he growled in frustration and then stormed off through the lake, shocked that he was at the edge much faster than he expected. He took a deep breath and went upstairs to his favorite area, the place where the lead singers would always be preparing themselves. He sighed and went back to his lair. He looked at himself in the mirror and nearly gasped at what he saw inside his reflection.

"Hello, Monsieur," he heard, and wheeled around to find a strange blonde staring at him. "Perhaps you would like to know what happened while you were unconscious."

"That would be nice," he admitted, knowing he wouldn't get a straight answer.

"Please, have a seat, you have much to learn my friend," the blonde said kindly, and Erik snarled. "I understand of course that this is your territory, I just mean that you begin learning about who you are now that the world thinks you are dead."

"What are you talking about?" Erik snarled.

"This will take a long time, please, have a seat," the blonde insisted, and Erik grudgingly sat down on his bed's edge.

...

Years passed, and eventually Erik grew bored. Trickery, music making, scaring the newest managers into submission, terrorizing the cast that displeased you – he was beginning to grow bored of it, or at least in France. He wanted a new home, one with a better outlook, but of course that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Hello, Erik," the blonde greeted, and Erik looked over his shoulder and smiled wistfully at his mentor and former companion. "It's been an awful long time, hasn't it? Are you ready?"

"No, but I still want a change of scenery," Erik sighed wistfully. "Where are you living now?"

"Washington, in the United States," the blonde smiled wistfully. "Would you like to join us?"

"Is there an opera house?"

"No, but I'm sure we can get one built with how much money we have," he laughed slyly, and Erik beamed at his companion in trouble-making.

"It's quite lonely," Erik admitted at last. "I wish I didn't have…"

"It isn't all bad," the blonde smiled gently. "You could always live with us."

"Oh? You're married now? My congratulations," Erik snarled immediately building up the walls of hatred that he had come to use whenever he saw a couple together.

"Erik, please, we can arrange for there to be catacombs for you, we could build it ourselves," he offered, his eyes pleading. "Please, I've looked to you as a brother this entire time, Erik…"

"If there are catacombs, I will come," Erik complied, completely unused to being treated as an equal by another living being. "Otherwise, you will have to wait."

"Thank you, my dear friend!" the blonde beamed. "You won't regret this. You'll find someone special, I am sure."

"Why do I highly doubt that?" Erik muttered angrily.

...

Years passed again, and Erik eventually found a girl, but this time it came as a shock to him what she looked and sounded like. She was beautiful to him, and when he heard her sing he knew she was the one for him. He sighed and relaxed as she began to look around, even having wandered into his box on a couple of occasions. This had startled the managers, but it wouldn't for long if he had his way.

"Ah, how I wish we were compatible," he murmured gently to himself. "If only…"

He looked and watched over her, destroying anyone who dared get close to her enough to kiss her on the lips. Men soon began avoiding her, calling her many things, ranging from "the black widow" to "the human vampire". He had chuckled at that last one, but she was so beautiful that it was enthralling to him.

He stayed near his mentor and his family every so often, but never really enough to get to know his mentor's family. After all, he was a solitary man that was shunned by society at large, he wanted nothing to do with them at all, and he had every good reason to.

"Hello, child," he said to the young child, who stared at him in awe. "May I inquire as to what your name is?"

"S-Sarah," she stammered, her eyes looking him over terrified but awestruck. "You-you're as pretty as an angel…"

"Thank you," he said, feeling his heartstrings jerk and latch themselves onto this young girl, who was no older than three or four. "If you like you may call me that."

"Angel," she smiled reaching her arms up, and he was about to pick her up before he got wind of her hair, realizing that she must have been summoned up from his own personal hell. "Angel?"

"Hm? Oh," he smiled, swallowing back the urge to hurt her as he picked her up. "Would you like to come to my home?"

"Yes," she beamed. "Can mommy come, too?"

"No, this is a special trip just for you, only pretty and unmarried girls are allowed to come into an angel's home," he said firmly, swallowing again. "Come, I won't hurt you. Your mommy won't get mad at all, I can assure you."

"Kay!" she smiled, not entirely sure of what he was saying but still excited nonetheless. Erik smiled and carried the child down to his home, his heart racing and his world being tilted on its very axis. He had hated the rejection her mother had given him, but now that she was here, he felt strange, as if she were here to complete him.

He smiled to himself at the thought of turning her now, but he knew better and that it was against the laws. He would simply have to be patient and help her grow up. He chuckled to himself – the girl was so cute and innocent now, he didn't want to ruin it, but in the end the world would destroy her innocence as it had him if he didn't do that for her.

* * *

So, I, Um... yeah... I'm sorry if it's not very good! But, um... What do you think? This is one of the fanfics that I have on my flash drive that I just discovered when I was going through it to clean it off. I, um... yeah... I'm not a very good writer, I'm sorry...

Um... can you review, please? I'd like to know how to better improve my writings, and to be able to make more stories that you all would enjoy...


	2. The Vampire's Crypt

I still don't own _The Phantom of the Opera_ or _Twilight. _I, um... I apologize to those that don't like this story, I am trying to improve, it's just that I'm not a very good writer...

Oh, and I, um... I'd like to thank those that reviewed the first chapter! TH-thank you very much!

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53: Keeping a Secret 

Erik stared up at the beast in front of him, unable to believe his eyes. Here this child, this mere three year old girl, was looking around his home and excitedly bouncing up and down on his bed. He chuckled and let her onto his shoulders as he walked calmly through the water and to the center of the lake.

"Can't swim, Angel," Sarah whined, and he smiled.

"I'll teach you," he said gently as he picked her up and held her aloft in the water. "Even out your breathing. Remember to take deep, even breaths. Kick in even strokes with your legs fairly straight and your ankles poised like you would for ballet."

She did as he was told and beamed as she began to float on her own ever so slightly. But when he completely removed his hands, she panicked and he scooped her up as she fell into the water. After three hours of swimming, Sarah finally learned how to tread water on her own, and he picked her up to let her rest.

"Angel?"

"Yes?" Erik asked gently, his entire world now revolving around this young girl.

"I love you," she mumbled, and he took in a breath.

"I love you, too," he murmured with such shock and joy in his eyes that he wished he could cry to let it escape somehow. "I love you so much… I can't put it into words…"

* * *

"My baby!" she screamed, and Carlisle tilted his head. "Sarah!"

"What's going on?" Esme asked confused.

"A young girl is missing, presumably by the fabled Opera Ghost," Edward chuckled.

"That Opera Ghost is real, Edward, you'd best be careful," Carlisle scolded. "Edward, you go calm her down. I'll go down into the catacombs to see just what he's angry with now."

"Wait, you _know _him?" Jasper asked as Alice's face went blank.

"It's okay, Jasper, he'll be fine," Alice said smiling. "They know each other quite well."

Carlisle nodded and ran towards the nearest entrance to Erik's catacombs. As he ran, he smelled human blood and immediately quickened his pace as best he could to go to the small child's aide. To Carlisle's shock, Erik was sitting in his bed, cradling the small child with a smile on his face and a look of love so powerful in his eyes that it was almost unnerving.

"Erik," Carlisle said, and the Phantom's head jerked up.

"Oh, it's you," he said looking back down. "What now? Come to nag at me to convince me to stop killing or to go to your rumored Opera House in Seattle?"

"The child, Erik," Carlisle said. "She needs to go back to her mother, you can't transform her, it's illegal."

"I wasn't going to change her," Erik snapped, and flinched as the child nearly awoke. "She sounded so good when she was beginning to sing, and her smell it's so… intoxicating… it's like my own brand of morphine…"

"Erik, you can't let her stay here, she needs to be with her parents."

"I needed my parents and was raised by monsters, I see no reason to do the same, with a much kinder twist on the monster," Erik retorted. "Besides, she likes it here. I've already taught her how to swim."

"Yes, I understand that, but you must send her back, it's critical for her development," Carlisle insisted firmly but gently. "Erik, I understand that you are upset about having to leave her, but medical proof would be needed to get her into your custody."

"I don't care," he snapped. "I won't abandon her to the world above!"

"I'm sure she won't have a problem keeping her parents from moving away," Carlisle assured him. "Just let her do the rest."

"I'll consider it," Erik said grudgingly. "Just give me twenty-four hours to decide."

"Of course," Carlisle nodded. "I'll send my wife down later to let her come up."

Erik nodded and gently woke the small girl as Carlisle left.

"Sarah, I need you to listen to me," Erik said gently, and the young girl looked up at him with groggy eyes as she wiped them.

"Angel? What's wrong?" she asked innocently as she tugged down on his shirt.

"It's nothing," he said smoothly, and she beamed.

"Swim more?" she asked innocently, and he smiled at her innocence.

"Of course, my princess," he said gently as he stripped down into nothing but his pants. "Let me go get my swim clothes on, silly."

"Okay!" she chirped as she went and bounded over to his organ and began picking out a couple of tunes on the keys.

He changed in record time, and went out of his bedroom to find her still picking at the organ. The tune was a simple one, but it was good enough for him to want to begin teaching her. He smiled as she looked over at him and went on over to the water. She jumped in happily, and he stepped in slowly as if to ensure that he didn't jostle her as she swam and treaded water.

Erik smiled down as she began playing in the water, and his eyes widened as she slipped and fell, grabbing his swim shorts and taking them down with her. He took in a deep breath, wondering how he was supposed to explain this to her when she technically wasn't supposed to know. He cringed as she got up and looked down at him with wide and shocked eyes.

"Angel, what's that?" she asked pointing at his crotch.

"It's a secret," he smiled gently and pulled up his swim shorts, only for her tiny arms to get in the way. "I need you to move your arms, child."

"But angel, what is it? It looks weird," she said tilting her head as she began feeling him.

"Sarah, don't," he snarled, and she looked up at him and pulled down on him.

With a sharp intake of breath he disappeared underneath the water and pulled up his pants, forcing himself to remember that she was a small child and couldn't possibly understand what he was trying to hide just yet. She was crying, so he resurfaced and swam back over to her within a second.

"Sarah, please understand that I only keep this from you to protect you," he said gently as he cradled her in his arms. "Your mother will try to destroy me, and she will make sure that you and I never meet again should she find out that you saw my secret. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she whimpered, still upset.

"There, there," Erik soothed as he gently rubbed her back, doing everything he could to keep her safe and happy. "I'm not angry with you, princess. You're forgiven child, it's alright, but it is not yet time for you to understand my secret. But I'll tell you what – someday when you're old enough, I'll tell you exactly why my secret has to remain private."

"Like the mask?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yes, exactly like my mask," he said smiling wryly. "Someday, you will understand, and I won't let it happen a day sooner."

"Angel?"

"Yes?"

"Is your secret only for angels or for boys?"

"It's only for someone like me," he said gently, and she smiled up at him.

"I'm glad you have a secret, angel! It makes you even more special!" she beamed up at him.

Erik blinked and smiled at her, realizing that Carlisle was right – she needed to go back to her mother, even if only until she was thirteen, or just long enough to help her understand who she was and why she was there.

"Sarah, I must give you back to your mother soon," he said gently, and she began whining.

"I don't want to go back to mommy! She won't let me play the piano or sing!" Sarah whined upset.

"Then tell her that your angel will come and make sure that you get your music lessons in," he said gently. "Tell her that your angel is strict, and will take you away to heaven if you don't get your lessons."

"Really?" she asked excitedly, and he nodded and kissed her forehead.

"Yes, my little princess," he said gently pulling the bangs from out of her eyes. "Come, we must return. Your mother must be frantically looking for you."

* * *

Um... *hangs head* I'm sorry if this isn't good... I don't really get much time to write, and I have so many ideas, and they just keep twisting and turning in my mind until I can't make heads or tails of them! I'm sorry!

Um... can I get another review? please?


	3. Out of Box Five

I, um... I'd like to thank everyone that reviewed so far, and to let everyone know that reviews are what has been inspiring me to keep going with my fanfics, and um... Oh, and I don't own _The Phantom of the Opera_, or _Twilight_, or the one hundred theme prompt that my friend, RabidOrochimaruOtaku, shared with me last fall while we were in Biology class together...

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16: Questioning

"Thank you," Carlisle said gently as he met up with Erik. "The Police are looking frantically for her. What should we tell her?"

"She was in box five," Erik shrugged. "I'll take her there myself, and leave a note with the managers telling them to let her – and _only _her – in my box. Whatever happens after that is up to her. Sarah, I need you to tell your mommy that you were in box five this whole time. They can't know that you were in my home, they'll try to kill you if they knew."

"But why?" she asked innocently as he set her down on the seat he normally took.

"Because they don't like me," he said calmly. "They have never liked me, not in all of my years of watching over the young _talented _musicians in the Opera Populaire."

"Among other things," Carlisle murmured. "Wait here. I'm sure someone will think of looking in here sooner or later. I'll be back to look at you later, since I'm a doctor."

"You're pretty, too," Sarah chirped. "Not as pretty as my angel, but still pretty. Are you an angel?"

"I guess you could say that," Carlisle hedged slightly uncomfortably.

"Carlisle here is an angel of medicine instead of an angel of music like I am," Erik said calmly and her eyes widened. "But remember, you can't tell a single soul what you saw and heard with me, do you understand?"

"Yes, angel," Sarah said hugging him tightly. "Angel, will you sing me to sleep when I'm upset?"

"Yes, princess," Erik promised, and Carlisle's eyebrows rose to his hairline in shock. "Be quiet, Carlisle, this doesn't concern you!"

"Of course it doesn't, I'm just the one helping," he said smiling gently. "Aro will be most… interested to hear of your abilities."

"You wouldn't dare," Erik gasped as he wheeled around. "You wouldn't do this to someone in your coven, would you?"

"No, but you don't have one," he pointed out. "But if it did happen, I would wish them the best of luck in their time and efforts."

And with that Carlisle went off to Esme. Erik leaned down, kissed Sarah on the forehead and then the cheek, and then proceeded to sing her to sleep softly. He then raced back down to his lair and ran his hand through his hair angrily, hating himself for being who and what he was.

* * *

"Carlisle, is she alright?" Esme asked worriedly as he arrived back at the hotel they were staying at for the week. "Is she hurt?"

"No, she's fine, Esme," Carlisle said gently, and Edward's eyes widened.

"You transformed the Phantom of the Opera," he said stunned, and all vampire eyes went to Carlisle.

"Carlisle, is this true?" Esme asked. "Did you…?"

"He was dying, I taught him my ways before I ever let him hunt or go above ground again, and I was lonely," he said sighing. "We stayed together for a couple of years, but he stayed underground when I went over to America. He and I visit from time to time, but nothing major has happened at the opera house, not since the managers all learned to obey his every whim."

"It's okay, Esme, she'll be fine," Alice smiled gently. "She and Erik-!"

"Don't even say it, Alice," Edward snapped.

"Edward's right, it's ultimately up to her," Carlisle said nodding.

"She's three! She'll be an immortal child if what I'm seeing in your memories is true," Edward pointed out.

"No, she won't be," Alice said with a blank look in her eyes. "He won't change her, not until he figures out his feelings."

"Which will take a long time, I'm sure," Carlisle said calmly. "He is unsure of himself, and he does not trust his heart to anyone, male or female. The only reason he let me in is because I transformed him into a vampire. Although, he's been calling it 'angel' to Sarah."

"So what kind of angels is he talking about?" Emmet asked confused.

"He used to call himself the 'angel of music' when he was trying to seduce Christine Daee because of an extremely powerful infatuation and obsession he had with her while he was still human," Carlisle explained. "He called himself an angel of music for the first time ever since then today, to Sarah. He called me an 'angel of medicine' and I really wonder if he thinks that."

"If you'll let Jasper and me near him, we can figure out," Edward offered.

"No, you'll die," Alice said looking forwards into the future. "Leave him be, they'll find her."

"Esme, I told him that you would be the one to find the little one," Carlisle said calmly. "He will be expecting to see you in his box to get her."

"Thanks for the warning, Carlisle," she said tartly. "Are you sure she's alright?"

"A little confused maybe, but all will be explained to her in time," Carlisle assured. "Come, we might as well go to the Opera Populaire."

As they arrived, they went back and into the area that box five was located at to find a group of policemen arguing in perfect French about whether or not to anger the ghost by going into box five.

"Sarah?" Esme called out. "Sarah?"

Sarah looked up and yawned, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she looked around. She followed the sound of Esme's voice out of box five, and the policemen stared at her as she gave them the letter with the wax skull. Holding up her arms, she went easily into Esme's.

"There, there, you're safe now," Esme soothed gently. "Carlisle, could you look her over?"

"We'll need to get her to a hospital," one said worriedly.

"No need, I'm a medic, I work in the Emergency Room for an American Hospital," Carlisle said flashing his medical license. "May I have a look at her to see if she's alright?"

"Fine," they grudgingly agreed.

He began looking at her gently and began checking her vitals and signs for trauma or for shock.

"Well, I see nothing to prove that she's been harmed," he said calmly. "She must have an angel watching over her."

"I do," she chirped, and he gave her a scolding look gently as he took her into his arms. "Really, I do!"

"I'm glad," Carlisle said smiling at her. "Let's get you back to your mother, I'm sure she'll be frantically looking for you."

* * *

I, uh... Is it good so far? I tried to keep them all in their personalities, but I'm not sure how the Phantom would have reacted to discovering a new friend in a small child...

I, um... can I get another review please? I-I'm not a good writer, and-and...They-they make me feel like I'm improving, even if just by a tiny bit...

please, even just one review?


	4. Back Into Homes

5: Seeking Solance

"Mama, can I take piano lessons, please?" Sarah begged as Carlisle entered her home with the use of the key that Sarah had around her neck.

"My baby! oh my baby," her mother gasped as she took the three year old into her arms. "Thank you, thank you, Monsieur, I can't thank you enough for finding my baby girl! Where was she? How can I ever repay you?"

"Just make sure she gets the music lessons that she wants," he said smiling gently. "I'm sure that the angel that watches over her would be happy to see her doing what she loves to do."

"What?"

"She told me of her angel, the one who kept her safe while she was in box five," Carlisle said gently as he handed the key back. "That is a very smart and very talented daughter you have, Madame. It would be a waste to let her talents fall by the wayside."

"Mama, please, I want to take singing and piano," Sarah begged.

"Not this again," she murmured. "Over my dead body."

"Which can easily be arranged," Erik murmured from outside her house.

"Please, Madame, I find that talents take time to develop and that the earlier you start the better and faster they will learn," Carlisle implored, and she sighed.

"Fine, but you have to promise me you'll practice," she said sternly to Sarah, and the small child began bouncing up and down for joy.

"Thank you, Madame," Carlisle said just before promptly leaving. "Happy now, Erik?"

"I want her in _my _arms," Erik growled.

**~(Three Weeks later)~**

"Carlisle," Erik greeted as he went up to the door.

"It's been a long time, Erik," Carlisle greeted with a warm smile. "Would you like to meet my family?"

"Yes, I've been dying to meet this new coven of yours that you are rumored to have," he said looking at the medic pointedly.

Carlisle led Erik through the house and gathered everyone to the living room with a simple sentence telling them they had a guest. Emmet was smirking while Rose was grimacing and sizing up Erik's attire, which hadn't changed at all since the time of his transformation. Alice was looking into his future, while Jasper was keeping everyone calm. Edward was sizing him and his thoughts up by reading his mind, while Esme was trying to put a few pieces together.

"Everyone, this is Erik, he is the first one I transformed," Carlisle said calmly.

"Even before Edward?" Esme asked in shock.

"Yes, I transformed him in eighteen eighty-one," Carlisle said with a nod. "I taught him my ways, and we separated."

"Why?" Jasper asked.

"I didn't want to leave my home," Erik said calmly.

"The Phantom of the Opera," Edward said raising his eyebrows.

"What about it?" Emmet asked confused.

"I am he," Erik said calmly, and all jaws dropped while some hissed angrily and backed away.

"Peace," Carlisle said, looking to Jasper for help. Within moments everything was calm thanks to the younger blonde, so Carlisle continued. "Do you really think he would fight when he is so clearly outnumbered?"

"I would," Emmet said.

"That's because your all brawn and no brains, which I am the opposite," Erik retorted.

"Do you remember how I said that some vampires have gifts?" Carlisle asked gently.

"Yes. What of them?" Erik demanded.

"Edward can read people's minds," Carlisle explained. "Alice can see the future, depending on someone's decisions, and Jasper can control others' emotions."

"I never thought I would see the day when I would be able to work well with a child," he said at last, causing everyone to grin widely.

"Do you have a gift?" Esme said at last, and Erik looked over at her.

"You… are Carlisle's mate, yes?" Erik asked, and she nodded. "If I may, I'd like to get the stories of everyone here. Carlisle, if you aren't busy, could you tell them?"

"I have to go to work, actually," he said dodging the request. "That is at their disgression, my old friend. Stay as long as you please."

"Thank you," Erik said nodding with warmth in his eyes. "I have never thanked you for this new chance at life, but I now know that you were right. Christine was never my mate."

"It took you two hundred years to figure it out," Emmet laughed. "I'm Emmet."

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you," Erik growled angrily.

"It's alright, Jasper," Alice said smiling. "He won't hurt Emmet. I'm Alice, and this is Jasper."

"I'm Rosalie, Emmet's wife," she said curtly, her eyes rarely leaving his mask.

"Edward," he said calmly. "The Mind reader and second oldest in our coven."

"Pleasure," Erik said tartly. "Carlisle, where exactly is this fabled Opera Populaire of yours? Surely it's nearby?"

"Yes, it's in Seattle," he replied with a nod. "And yes, we instructed for Catacombs to be put inside of it whenever we were here last."

"I see," Erik said with a smile. "I believe I shall go live in those catacombs to help myself adjust to the modern life. Well, should Sarah move to the United States, that is."

Carlisle smiled and led Erik to the garage, and within seconds had his Mercedes revved up and ready to go. Erik sat in the passenger seat, looking at it and sizing up the vehicle.

"I won't deny, it is much different than the other ones without these… restraints," Erik said sizing it up calmly. "Are they supposed to keep us safe even though we are virtually indestructible?"

"Yes, they were designed for humans," he said calmly as he put it into reverse and began driving calmly towards Seattle. "I must warn you, Erik, that should you choose to live here, you cannot cause mayhem like you do to yours. It will put this one out of business. At least at the other one you have the managers bowing to your every whim, whereas this one – well, it will be disasterous to leave it open when it is a crisis waiting to happen should you anger the phantom."

"Of course it would be," Erik said rolling his eyes. "Carlisle, if you think I were to have a gift, what would it be?"

"I believe it is trickery," Carlisle said sizing him up. "You are able to blatantly lie to anyone and everyone and still be able to get away with it even if it is painstakingly obvious that you are lying."

"That _would _be my gift," Erik chuckled.


	5. Washington

I, um... I still don't own the _Twilight _saga or _The Phantom of the Opera_ at all... This chapter's dedicated to **RabidOrochimaruOtaku**, who was my first reviewer!

Um... yeah... please enjoy?

* * *

6: Break Away

**~Three Years Later~**

Erik continued to teach Sarah whatever musical talents she wanted to know, and even to help her use her singing voice to turn her into a wonderful soprano, better even than Christine. But when she turned six, her mother forced her to move to America without even giving her a chance to say good-bye to everyone.

Erik knew that something was wrong when she didn't show up in his lair one weekend, and he went to her house to find her scent stale. He snarled and began tracking her scent, even to go as far as New York City. Unfortunately for him, her scent was stale there as well, but barely traceable. He began to run after her scent, following it as desperately as he could, his every nerve on fire and hate boiling towards Sarah's mother.

But by the time that he'd managed to follow her, the scent had branched off eighteen times, making him completely unable to track her without having the ability to split into doppelgangers. Growling angrily, he went off into the area that the Cullens resided in to find that they had problems of their own in the fact that they would have to relocate to a former place of residence soon.

"I worry for her," Erik admitted to Carlisle. "She won't get the musical training she needs without me…"

"You just have to trust that she will uphold to your teachings as best that she can until you arrive back for her," Carlisle said putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Just give her time to find you."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sarah was sobbing hysterically the entire time that she had been forced to move away from her angel of music. Time was cruel, and her mother was even worse, in her opinion. She turned to the one thing that she could think of to take her mind off of her angel – television. To her hatred, it was all in English. She threw the remote across the room and ran into her bedroom, slamming the door and locking it.

"I worry for her, Sean," her mother said to her new boyfriend, the very one who had gotten her pregnant with her second child. "She's not at all like she used to be. She used to be so kind, caring and outgoing and curious and now – I can't even see how she's my baby…"

"Well, Saphira, you just have to try to understand that she was ripped from the world that she knew and into a new one," he shrugged. "Give her time. she'll get over it."

But Sarah didn't get over it. Over time she became more and more addicted to her singing – which her mother banned – and secondly to her newest two passions – fighting and anime. She took a few Karate and Boxing classes, and even some Tae Kwon Do classes, but only to feel the gaping hole knowing that her angel would know more than the people she was with about what she was destined for.

"Sean, we can't just let her keep drowning herself and her sorrows in fighting, singing and _porn_!" she heard her mother scream angrily.

"Saphira, I've been screening what she's watching, it's about three girls who go rescue a world called Cefiro, the show's called _Magic Knight Rayearth_, give her a chance," he argued. "She'll come around."

"No, she won't," her mother sighed wearily. "She hates me now, I can't even get her to talk to me, we used to be inseparable… until that stupid so-called _angel _came into her life! Now I can't even get her to talk to me!"

"Well, maybe you should have listened to her," he said calmly.

Sarah had heard enough, and ran to the nearest place that she could think of for safety and comfort from her mother and soon-to-be-step-father: the Seattle Opera Populaire. She ran and she ran, never once looking back at her mother. She ran towards the Opera Populaire only to find it boarded up and abandoned.

"I HATE YOU!" she screamed as she looked back at her home's direction.

She then proceeded to run until it was dark. She curled up after creating a small pile of leaves and fell fast asleep. She continued this route for a few more days until she reached an abandoned house, or one she _thought _was abandoned.

She went inside and looked around, only to find a familiar face rushing up to her, his eyes dark brown instead of the light caramel that they had been. She gasped, recognizing the face anywhere.

"Angel," she breathed. "Angel of Medicine, but-you-how?!"

"I should ask you the same thing, you aren't supposed to be here," he said tightly as he picked her up gently.

"Who did – oh my god," Rosalie gaped as she looked at Sarah. "That was the girl from three years ago that went missing!"

"What's she doing here?" Emmet asked confused. "Jazz, do you know?"

"She's upset, she feels lost," Jasper said quietly. "She feels as though she's been removed from everything important, like-like…"

"I believe that's quite enough of that," Carlisle scolded gently. "Sarah, why don't you come upstairs with me so we can talk about why you're upset? Would that be alright?"

Sarah nodded and followed after Carlisle, her heart breaking. But before she could even begin crying, she heard a door shut downstairs and then someone screaming angrily at someone else.

"You don't belong here! You can't just live here to destroy us like the rest of your kind do!" she heard a man screaming angrily.

"You don't know us, do you? Remember the treaty we had with your father? It's not been violated, we didn't change anybody," she heard a male shout back.

"He's right, I was transformed in South America by a girl during the Civil War," Jasper said calmly. "Alice was already a vampire when I found her in the nineteen forties."

"What's wrong?" Carlisle asked Sarah, whose eyes filled with tears just before she began sobbing out the entire story of what had happened to her and what she wanted to tell her angel of music.

"I see," Esme said as she walked in with a plate full of sugar cookies from Wal-Mart. "Here, eat. You must be famished."

"Thank you, Auntie," Sarah mumbled through a bite of the cookie. "I don't want to go home."

"Tell you what," Carlisle said getting on one knee to comfort her. "We'll come back, and we'll bring the angel of music back with us for you. But until then I need you to be good for your mother and step-father and keep up the lessons that you've been taught. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Sarah sighed.

"Good," Carlisle said smiling. "Another thing – please, just call me Carlisle."

* * *

I, um... I'm sorry if it's confusing! I-I need t-t-time skips to get to the Twilight part and it was the only thing I could think of at the time!

P-please, somebody... anybody... review?


	6. Orphaned

I s-s-still don't own _Twilight _or _The Phantom of the Opera_! Um... I'd dedicate the chapter to an author, but nobody reviewed or followed the story...

* * *

43: Dying

**~Two Years Later~**

Sarah had been waiting for a long time, and had never stopped putting her raw talents and her angel's lessons to the test as she continued to push herself to her limits to please him, hoping that he was watching from heaven.

She sighed as she went to the Arkansas Anime Convention, a tradition she'd begun doing with every Anime Convention she could that Alice would let her go to, since it was her who had the gift of vision. In all of Sarah's years, she never once doubted her phantom.

Sarah discovers a new self-defense teacher this way, a secondary source from her new one, but one that she believes to be just as trained as her original one – Samurai Dan.

Dan was tall, a man of six foot seven, a strong but thin build, and balding slightly in the front middle of his head. He wore the traditional Japanese style clothing, with a traditional jacket and protection layer on his legs, both made of Denim. His wife and assistant, Jillian, was a woman of medium height, had long blonde hair, and was over-enthusiastic. Sarah enjoyed this, and looked at these two as she would another set of parents.

Sarah begins to go through all his panels, and she screams once as Jillian is about to chop his head off, or so it seemed to Sarah. Luckily, though, he dodged downwards as she screamed, causing everyone else to chuckle and the two Samurai to look around.

"You're not doing your job right!" Dan yelled.

"Yes I did! I even made one of the kids scream!" Jillian retorted. "Besides, nobody would object to my killing a cheerleader!"

The entire crowd burst into applause, with Alice shaking her head and a small smile on her lips, knowing that it wouldn't actually happen. Sarah goes into hysterics and looks up on the stage again.

"Now, honey, why don't we continue with the panel?"

"Why, so I can hurt you instead?" Jillian retorts with a smile.

The crowd again goes into applause, except for Sarah, who becomes pale-faced with horror.

"Oh, sure, take her side," Dan said throwing his arms up.

"I object!" she yells out as the group's cries and cheers die down, and Dan's head whipped in her direction.

"Who just said that?" he asked shocked, and Alice raised her hand. "You did?"

"No, she did," Alice said pointing to Sarah, who blushed and turned away.

"Wow, I like this girl," he grinned to Jillian, who frowned.

"That's only because she's on your side," she retorted.

"I'm sure she'd much rather take my side than yours," he said sticking out his tongue, and she raised her sword. "Moving on!"

To Sarah's delight, she had a vampire beside her who could teach her all of the moves later on and show her how to go through what they were teaching her. But as she returned home from the third convention, she found that her mother was on her deathbed from an allergic reaction that had taken too strong a hold in her body.

"Sarah," Saphira rasped, putting her hand on her child's face. "Be good for-for the Cullens…"

"You can't be serious," Sean protested. "She won't last a week there!"

"I'd last longer than you could since I've got more training than you do," Sarah retorted, and Sean went to punch her.

Sarah then realized that she wasn't sure how long her step-father had been abusing her mother, but it had been happening. She quickly parried, sending her foot into his groin, and began to use some boxing combinations that she had picked up from Samurai Dan, beginning with the uppercut.

"Take that!" Sarah yelled as she delivered a finishing blow to her step-father.

"Wow, beaten by a girl," Saphira laughed before going into a coughing fit. "Sarah… I'm so sorry… I sho… I shoul… I should have…"

"You should have warned me before we left Paris?" Sarah asked tartly, and Saphira nodded. "Yeah, you probably should have mom. I'm still hurt by it, but all's forgiven. I never stopped loving you, even though I often hated what you did to my lifestyle."

"Keep doing what you're doing, baby girl," Saphira said softly. "Make us proud. Make me and your angel of music proud."

"I will, mama," Sarah beamed with tears in her eyes. "I love you so much, mama."

"I love you, too," Saphira breathed. "I love you, too…"

The light died from Saphira's eyes, and Sarah closed her mother's eyes as tears fell from her own face onto her mother's body. Sarah ran into the kitchen, pulled out a knife, and rammed it into the back of her hand.

"I make an oath of pain," she rasped out as she looked at the blood. "I will not run away again, I will not back down from a challenge, and I sure as hell won't let my step-father destroy what my mother spent her life to build for me. I swear to this by the pain in my hand, and this is my oath of pain."

Within moments the doorbell rang and Alice was at the door, her breath held, with Carlisle at her side. It was mere seconds later that he was in the kitchen looking at her hand, and held it gently to begin stitching it closed. Sarah was still and uncaring about the pain, welcoming it as a reminder of what her new father had done to her.

"Where is the will?" Alice asked sternly, and Sean looked at her.

"That's none of your damn business," he retorted. "You people aren't welcome here!"

"And why not? The Cullen family hasn't caused anyone any harm," Charlie said glaring at Sean. "You on the other hand have a history, and as does your step-daughter."

"She's in the kitchen, probably doing something stupid and geeky Japanese TV show related again," he retorted with a jerk of his thumb.

"And your wife?" Alice demanded.

"What wife?" Sean asked, his eyes cold. "That bitch stopped becoming my wife when she chose her freakish child over me."

"What?" Alice demanded, for once on the verge of losing her temper. "How dare you?! This is how you treat the only remaining child of the woman you loved?!"

"That freak of nature was never mine, she's not even human," he retorted. "Good at fighting, art, singing, theater, and god knows what else! She has no sense of humanity, she didn't even have the heart to look at her mother for eight years unless she was forced to!"

"How would you feel if your very world was turned upside-down all of a sudden and you were torn apart from everything you knew to go to some country that you had no idea even existed?" Sarah retorted as Carlisle finished stitching her hand.

"I've had it happen many times, and it's terrible," Alice said darkly. "You never truly get over it."

"Especially for someone at such a tender age," Carlisle chimed in as he led Sarah towards Charlie with his hands still working to bandage hers. "Chief Swan, I'd like to take her to my house to help her mourn for her mother properly if that's alright with you."

"I don't see why Sean can't," Charlie pointed out.

"I would rather die than let that freak of nature stay in my house another night! She killed my wife!" he shouted.

"I did not! You did!" she screamed at him with tears running down her face. "You did, damn it, that was all your fault!"

"Shut up!" Sean yelled as he rammed the back of his hand against the side of her face, knocking her backwards into Carlisle.

"You're under arrest for assaulting a minor!" Charlie yelled as he lunged for Sean, just before reciting the classical Miranda warning as Sarah whimpered against Carlisle's chest.

"Let's get you to Esme," Carlisle said gently. "I'm sure she won't mind feeding an extra mouth tonight."

* * *

I, um... I'm sorry, I'll get to the series as soon as I can! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

R-Review, p-please?


	7. Papers

I s-s-still don't own _Twilight _or _The Phantom of the Opera_! Um... I'd dedicate the chapter to an author, but nobody reviewed or followed the story...

*squeaks in alarm* O-Oh! I nearly forgot to remind everybody! The basis for all the chapters is based off of the 100 themes prompt that I received from a friend of mine!

* * *

17: Blood

"Well, now what do we do?" Charlie asked as he looked at the adoption papers on his desk. "We can't just let the Cullen family adopt another kid, they've already got enough mouths to feed as it is, even with him being a doctor."

"Well, you could always give her over to her nearest relatives," one of the other cops suggested.

"Her mother's relatives are in Paris, France and clearly stated that they don't want her back," he sighed heavily. "Her step-father had a sister, but I can't seem to find her anywhere…"

"If I may, I can try to help," Carlisle suggested as he walked in. "I know friends world-wide, I'm sure one of them can think of something."

"You're insane," the cop said shaking his head in shock. "You have friends world-wide?"

"Medical friends," he said calmly. "We were once looking into new medicines in the hopes of curing cancer for a few weeks before our group had to disband."

"Uh-huh," Charlie said skeptically. "Sure. So, what do you propose?"

"What about us?" Carlisle asked, and Charlie snorted.

"You've already got five teenagers and a wife to feed," Charlie pointed out. "Any other ideas?"

"Well, what about someone she admires?" Carlisle suggested.

"Alright, who would she admire enough?" Charlie asked, and Carlisle blinked.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'll go ask and find out, thought. She seems traumatized enough as it is, I'm sure she'd like a stable environment."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You're kidding me," Dan said as he looked out across Convention Hall where he was to be demonstrating for the convention. _"This _is the convention hall?"

"It's the main stage," a man corrected. "Just be careful, there's supposedly a ghost around here somewhere who created havoc whenever a woman insulted him and called him a monster and then denied that he existed."

"HE?"

"Well, rumor has it that a man died while in the production of _The Phantom of the Opera _while he was playing as the Phantom," he said shivering. "Ever since then, we've been getting notes saying to leave Box Five empty. We started obeying immediately, we learned from the production and the manager's mistakes from the story."

"Lovely," Dan muttered as he looked around right as Jillian's cell phone rang.

"Uh-oh," she said shaking her head.

"What?" he asked as he turned to her.

"My idiot brother is calling me," she said tartly just before picking up the phone. "What now, Sean?"

"Jillian!" Sarah's step-father panicked as she picked up. "Thank god you picked up! I'm in a real jam!"

"What did you do this time?" she asked putting her hand on her hip.

"Well, you see, I spanked my step-kid to scold her in front of a police officer, and apparently that's assaulting a minor," he said quietly.

"You spanked your kid in front of a police officer? How stupid are you?" she asked into the phone while laughing.

"It's not funny! Now she's out of my custody, my wife is dead because of her, and now the cops are investigating the death of Saphira!"

"Fine," Jillian groaned. "Where's the step-daughter?"

"She's with a medic, someone the Chief of Police trusted," he said panicked. "Come on, Jillian, please bail me out!"

"Hm… no," she smiled nastily before tilting her head again. "So, where's the police station that your step-daughter is at?"

"Ugh! She's in a stupid little town called Forks in Washington!" he yelled angrily.

"Cool, we're on our way," she beamed as she hung up. "Get the keys and rev up the car, Dan, we're heading downstairs!"

"Wait, what?" he asked confused as he followed her out to the car.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hours later, Jillian and Dan's car pulled into the driveway of Charlie's police station. Sarah was still sulking, dressed perfectly as one very angry shadow Link, and pummeling a punching bag in Carlisle's study until her knuckles were bruised and bloody. Carlisle then had to remind her that she was human in a house full of vampires, and told her to wear the bandages on her arms, hands, and fingers for the rest of the week to let them heal.

While she obeyed him, she channeled her energy into the punching bag and began to destroy it without mercy at all. It wasn't long before Esme walked in and felt her eyes go red as she smelled the blood underneath the bandages.

"Sarah, your step-father's older sister is here," Esme rasped.

Sarah was silent as she continued to pummel the punching bag. She shot Esme a glare that said "I heard you, now go away", and then went on pummeling as though nothing had happened.

"I can't fall behind," she snarled at last. "What have I been doing all these years? Not a single bit of my abilities are anywhere close to _his_."

"Oh dear," Esme breathed with a shake of her head. "Charlie, can I call you back? Her mind seems to be stuck on the fact that she needs to get rid of her frustration and take it out on a poor punching bag."

"Just get her here when you can," Charlie said before hanging up. "She's in a fight with a punching bag, she'll be on her way here just as soon as she's done."

"Wow," Jillian beamed. "I like this kid already."

"You won't say that when you figure out what everyone thinks that she should be taking for her insanity," Charlie muttered.

"What?" Dan and Jillian asked, unsure that they'd heard him right.

"The kid keeps rambling on and on about some figment of her imagination from when she was aged three to six," he said shaking his head and shrugging it off as if it were nothing. "And she used to live in Paris, France, so she'll know a lot of different French things that you won't even know the half of what it is."

"Good to know," Dan said moving his head up. "So, what does the kid do to comfort herself?"

"Fight a punching bag, get in a sword fight with a punching bag by means of a wooden one – sweet mercy, thank god – or better yet starts watching Anime all day long," he said waving it off.

"We're keeping her," Jillian beamed looking at Dan. "I like her already. She'll fit right in at the cons we go to!"

"Great, an anime geek under our roof," Dan muttered. "Oh, wait, she's an orphan without us, we don't have a choice unless we want higher taxes."

"Dan, you're forgetting - her step-father is my half-brother," Jillian reminded him. "And a complete jerk. I'd much rather take her in than run the risk of her being abused or going into foster care."

"Fine, point taken," Dan pretended to grumble, seeing where his wife was more than right.

* * *

I, um - I-I'm not married, s-s-so I d-don't know the m-marriage dynamics! I'm sorry if I got that wrong!

Please review? I-I'm stuck on ideas for B-Breaking Dawn...


	8. Chapter 8

I still don't own _Twilight _or _The Phantom of the Opera_! Um... on with the show!

* * *

15: Silence

"You have got to be kidding me," Dan and Jillian gaped as Sarah was half-led half-dragged in by Carlisle and Emmet.

"This is who we're taking in?! She's crazy!" Dan shouted.

"Yes, but you're the only family she has left," Charlie sighed. "And I really do pity you people. The kid dresses up like it's Halloween every day and hasn't stopped that once."

"Wow, why am I not surprised?" Dan asked looking away.

"Weren't you the one that was asking if we could adopt her?" Jillian asked him.

"Oh yeah!" he beamed. "Okay, screw what she says about this, I'm in!"

A few hours later, Sarah was being led into Dan and Jillian's car, with them driving towards her house mere moments afterwards. Sarah packed the simple necessities – her cosplays that fit her, the gifts that she had received for her birthdays (which had mostly been money that she had recently cashed now that she'd discovered her step-father stealing it from her bank account) and also a few bags full of musical packets that her angel of music had given her when she was aged three to six.

"That's it?" Dan asked, and she nodded as she looked at the one box and backpack that she had packed for the trip. "Wow. You're a lightweight, unlike most people I know."

Jillian glared at him and he smiled.

"Hi, honey," he beamed as he stepped away from her.

Sarah was silent all the way to their home in Iowa, welcoming the change of the weather. She blinked and looked around at her new surroundings, unsure of what to do now. But instead of doing something stupid she simply headed up, let her new guardians take the lead, and let Jillian show her to her new bedroom.

"I know I'm probably not the first choice of mothers," Jillian began slowly. "But I think we'll be okay if I just settle for the sister kind of bond?"

Sarah said nothing but acknowledged the comment by a soft and deep noise from the back of her throat that was something that Sasuke Uchiha would normally say.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For the next three weeks, Sarah was the same, constantly dressed and acting like a female gothic version of Light Yagami. Jillian and Dan were hard-pressed and wanted to leave her behind while they went to an Anime convention, but when this happened Sarah awoke and awoke with a vengeance. If they hadn't been experts in combat, most of their home would have been destroyed by the resulting tantrum.

"Okay, okay, fine! We'll take you with us to the Anime Conventions as our assistant," Dan said exasperatedly. "Just don't do anything stupid while in cosplay, okay?"

Sarah nodded and went up to her room to begin packing.

"Sheesh, what's her problem?" Dan asked Jillian, who sighed.

"Well, dear, she was ripped suddenly from everything she knew not once, but twice," she said tartly. "If you were torn from your home and taken to a strange land where nobody spoke your language when you were six, you'd have some issues, too. Add on the fact that your mother died in your arms would probably be much worse."

"Oi," he moaned. "I don't think we should teach her how to fight back."

"No, she needs to know it," Jillian said nodding firmly. "Let her enjoy the cons while we home-school her, this will be fun!"

"Ah, no, it won't," he said looking at her worriedly. "You know why? Because I'm going to be the one who gets to put up with all the hormone issues you two have."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sarah sat on the plane, fast asleep with her head on Dan's arm, while he looked at her incredulously as she breathed deeply, almost snoring, in her sleep.

"Should we wake her?"

"Nah," he smirked. "She'll be fine. Where's our first stop?"

"New York City," she said calmly. "We're staying in a convention hotel room while we're stuck with a very busy schedule and a very limited budget."

But to their shock, they found Alice Cullen waiting for them as their plane landed.

"Sarah!" she squealed as she gently hugged the young human. "I knew I'd find you here!"

Again Sarah was silent as she stared up at the vampire.

"Oh, come on, you'll get over it," Alice said smiling. "In fact, you'll be reunited with an old friend very soon."

Sarah said nothing but sighed longingly as she looked back at the airport, her mind stuck on sneaking a ride back to the Paris Opera House.

"Come on!" Alice insisted as she drug the two females away by restraining them. Dan followed in hot pursuit almost silently, not wanting to be left behind.

"I wanted to game," Lillian whined.

Sarah rolled her eyes in hatred. "Never send three students to do a warrior's job."

"What?" the two Samurai asked in confused unison.

"Magic Knight Rayearth," she muttered. "Look it up."

"What?" Alice asked.

"All I heard was an Anime reference, that's enough to let me know that I'm probably not going to understand it, so I'll just leave it be," Dan said nodding and crossing his arms.

"A wise decision, dear," Jillian smiled. "One of your smartest yet."

"Why thank you," he said smiling at her. "Wait, hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"What? It's a compliment, just take it and be happy," she smiled.

"Yeah, but that doesn't answer my question!"

"Well, you married me, didn't you?"

"Great, my mom and step-father all over again," Sarah muttered glaring at the wall. "Somebody run me through with a sword now."

"Hey, I resent that remark! If we were going to do that we'd have asked for a volunteer for Suji-Giri," he said doing a double take at her.

"Peasant cutting? I'm assuming that has a Japanese history that I have yet to learn," she said snorting.

"Yes, it's from the sixteen hundreds," he said nodding and patting her on the head. "You're learning well."

"What, no Padawon added onto the end of that?" Jillian asked.

"Being a Jedi was last year, it's old and gay now," Sarah scoffed. "Sign me up for the next war in China."

"Oh dear," Jillian said staring at Sarah. "What is wrong with you? Do you have a death wish?"

"If it'll get me closer to a few angels, then yes," Sarah said giving her a look full of so much pain, anger and hatred towards the world that they immediately realized that they needed to begin training with her soon.

"I think I've got just the thing for you, then," Dan said smiling as he picked her up and put her on his hip in one quick motion. "How do you like the idea of becoming a samurai?"

Sarah blinked before nestling into his shoulder and beginning to bawl her eyes out to unleash unshed tears since her mother's death three weeks earlier. Alice simply smiled as Jasper walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist while using his abilities to keep Sarah crying so she could get it all out of her system.

Dan and Jillian sighed with relief, glad that Sarah's unspoken oath of silence seemed to be ending for now.


	9. Chapter 9

I, ah, don't own _Survivor _- the song featured in this chapter... um... I don't actually know who the artist is, to be honest... but all credit goes to said artist!

* * *

51: Sports

Sarah awoke a few hours later to her new hotel room with Dan poking her in her side in full Samurai garb.

"Get up," he whispered. "Time to begin training."

"Samurai training?" Sarah asked, and he nodded. "Fine. What first?"

"We'll start with sit-ups and flexibility," he said sternly. "That was the first rule of the battlefield was to be able to get out of your opponent's way. Also, we'll need to work on the reflexes that involve the foolish method of putting your arm up while screaming out the phrase 'don't hurt me', as it really doesn't work more than twice."

"Move out of the way, fight back, and make sure you're fit and able to swing a sword," she said nodding and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Sounds easy enough, I guess."

"While wearing sixty-four pound armor," he said emphasizing his point, and she looked up at him as if to ask if he was serious. "I mean it. People used to live and die by the art of sword-fighting."

"You're the expert," she said getting out of bed and following him to the large living room area of the suite. "Where do we start?"

"Fifty sit-ups, or in this case as many as you can do," he said getting onto the ground and putting the edges of his feet underneath the couch. "After that I'll go downstairs and get you your own wooden stick so we can get you started by taking you around to all our panels."

"No samurai outfit? What's with the belt?" she asked pointing at his waist.

"Oh, that was to hide another weapon behind the flap in the back," he said pulling out a chain with two tiny rods on the end. "That was in case of an emergency in the home after he'd put his sword away, or in the cases of you and Jillian, she."

"There were girl Samurai?"

"There are now," he said beginning to do crunches. "Less talk, more work."

Sarah assumed the crunches position and began doing crunches alongside her new adopted father. As she did, she felt the strong urge to sing for the first time since she'd come to America. she began singing, and Dan was looking at her in shock as it never once caused her to break her stride, or even take her breath away for very long as she sang in her usual soprano.

_Now that you're out of my life, I'm for much better.  
You thought that I'd be weak without you, but I'm stronger.  
You thought that I'd be broke without you, but I'm richer.  
You thought that I'd be sad without you, I laugh harder.  
You thought that I wouldn't grow without you, but I'm wiser.  
You thought that I'd be helpless without you, but I'm smarter.  
You thought that I'd be stressed without you, but I'm chillin.  
You thought that I wouldn't sell without you, sold nine millions._

_I'm a Survivor.  
I'm not goin give up.  
I'm not goin stop.  
I'm goin work harder.  
I'm a Survivor.  
I'm gonna make it.  
I'm a survivor.  
Keep on surviving._

_I'm a Survivor.  
I'm not goin give up.  
I'm not goin stop.  
I'm goin work harder.  
I'm a Survivor.  
I'm gonna make it.  
I'm a survivor.  
Keep on surviving._

_You thought that I couldn't breathe without you, I'm inhaling.  
You thought that I couldn't see without you, perfect vision.  
You thought that I couldn't last without you, but I'm lastin'.  
You thought that I would die without you, but I'm livin'.  
You thought that I would fail without you, but I'm on top.  
You thought it would be over by now, but it won't stop.  
You thought that I would self-destruct, but I'm still here.  
Even in my years to come, I'm still goin be here!_

_I'm a Survivor.  
I'm not goin give up.  
I'm not goin stop.  
I'm goin work harder.  
I'm a Survivor.  
I'm gonna make it.  
I'm a survivor.  
Keep on surviving._

_I'm a Survivor.  
I'm not goin give up.  
I'm not goin stop.  
I'm goin work harder.  
I'm a Survivor.  
I'm gonna make it.  
I'm a survivor.  
Keep on surviving._

_Wishing you the best, pray that you are blessed  
Much success, no stress, and lots of happiness.  
I'm not blast you on the radio.  
I'm not gon' lie on you and your family.  
I'm not gonna hate on your in the magazines.  
I'm not gon' compromise my Christianity.  
And no I'm not goin diss you on the internet,  
Cause my Sensei taught me better than that!_

_I'm a Survivor.  
I'm not goin give up.  
I'm not goin stop.  
I'm goin work harder.  
I'm a Survivor.  
I'm gonna make it.  
I'm a survivor.  
Keep on surviving._

_I'm a Survivor.  
I'm not goin give up.  
I'm not goin stop.  
I'm goin work harder.  
I'm a Survivor.  
I'm gonna make it.  
I'm a survivor.  
Keep on surviving._

Sarah continued on with the rest of the song, and never once messed up on the lyrics, pitch, breathing, or crunches. Dan marveled at how strong she was emotionally now that she'd gotten all the tears out of her system, and Jillian walked out of the room and Dan shared confused at Sarah's singing only to gape at how the young girl was able to sing and keep up the crunches pace with Dan at the same time with seemingly no training at all.

"She's eight, should be really be doing this?" Jillian asked herself as she went back into her room and shut the door. "Ah, who am I kidding, if it keeps her from going insane, what should I care?"

Dan and Sarah continued doing crunches just before he began working with her on different methods of keeping her flexible and strong in her body's own way. He was about to stop her as she began running out of energy, but one look into her eyes told him that this was her way of drowning out her sorrow and pushing it out of the way at any and all costs possible.

He decided he'd let her be and begin training when it came time to time to do their first demonstration and using Jillian as a punching bag instead of him.

* * *

Um... review, please? I-I thought I'd make music Sarah's continuing motivator since that was what Erik taught her... is that okay? If not, please let me know!

Did I ask for a review already? Oh, I did, okay, sorry!


	10. Chapter 10

Still don't own the two sets of movies that this is located in... *sighs*

I have worked Bella in, but not until a later chapter. My sincerest apologies, but I feel the need to give more background information on her and build her character before I get going too far in the series.

* * *

44: Two Roads

"Welcome to the Anime Convention for New York," Dan smiled as he took her downstairs to the registration desk. "Hi, I'm here to pick up three tickets for Samurai Dan and company."

"One for you, sir," the lady said smiling. "One for Lady Jillian and – _this _is your new assistant?!"

"We adopted her, she started to drown herself in the ways of the samurai to get rid of all her emotional stress," Dan explained simply. "For one, she wouldn't take no for an answer, and two, we figured this would be the best way to get her started on training since we're her sensei's."

"Okay, if you're sure," the lady said handing him the three tickets and lanyards. "Don't blame me when you get sued."

"I'll scream at them until they're deaf if they try," Sarah snorted. "And let's not forget that unlike most people, I know how and where to get arsenic."

"Oh, god. Well, now I know just why nobody wanted to take you in from your mother's side of your family," Dan said giving her a startled look before shaking his head and leading her towards their hotel room. "Okay, family suite on the top floor, and free con tickets, how much better could this get?"

"Free cosplays," Sarah said calmly as she looked down at herself, out of cosplay for the first time since she'd moved to America six months prior. "Wait, what happened to my little brother? The one my mother had?"

"You have a brother?!" they asked shocked.

"Aw, crap," Dan said face-palming. "We're doomed."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sarah's mother's younger brother glared down at the infant that was given a free airplane ride from America when his little sister had died. But what was strange was that his sister's daughter hadn't even been flown in with him. The family could only assume that she was killed alongside her mother, and so they buried an empty casket alongside Saphira's body.

"Sarah," he said looking up into the sky. "I hope you find your angel of music up there."

"Sir?" a woman asked as she looked at him with his nephew, and he looked to find one of his wife's friends from the Opera House. "The child…"

"Is my late sister's only remaining heir," he said coldly. "I won't give him up for the world."

"And-and his sister?"

"As far as any of us know, she's dead as well," he said softly looking up into the sky. "But if she's not, we can only hope that she is happy and safe."

"Something tells me that she's not if her mother is dead," she said dryly. "Would you like for me to go find her in America?"

"No, I don't want a schizophrenic on my hands," he said shaking his head. "Besides, I've got a general idea on where she _would _have been had she survived the attack, which she clearly didn't since no body was ever found even though her blood was on the kitchen floor."

"And you know this how?" she asked skeptically.

"There was a letter with my sister's body," he lied smoothly as though he were telling the truth. "It explained that my niece's blood was all over the kitchen even though there was no imprint of the body, and there was most definitely no body to be found. But from the way the letter describes the scene, I doubt she'd have survived."

"So you think a pedophile attacked your sister, killed her, and then kidnapped your niece to use as a sexual slave?" the woman asked incredulously.

"Yeah, pretty much, that's all Americans really think about anyways," he said nodding and frowning. "If you don't mind, I'd like to _honor _my niece's memory since we're at her _funeral_."

"And your sister's," she said nodding as she stared at the two caskets.

"Yes, hers too," he said nodding, trying to figure out where his brother-in-law had gone wrong with their plans.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm telling you, I was paid to do this!" Sean yelled angrily at Charlie, who was completely unconvinced at the man's alibi. "I was paid to slip something to my wife, I didn't know it would kill her, honest!"

"Sure you didn't," he said skeptically. "You slipped your wife a little something in food that she was allergic to by using small doses over time. If that doesn't scream out that you've killed her for the insurance money then I don't know what will."

"But, please, you have to believe me!" Sean pled. "I can give you a name!"

"Whose?"

"It-it was her brother, one who lives in France, he heard that my step-daughter was able to see the Opera Ghost, and the managers would pay thousands of Euros for her to be able to control him and eventually lure him out to destroy him!" Sean pled, making it up as he went along. "The managers would pass down what they knew of the phantom down by letters to the next one all the way up until present day and would warn the next ones of how the systems worked with him!"

"If this guy's a phantom, how are we supposed to counter or capture him, hm? Tell me that," Charlie snorted sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest.

"It was like the phantom of the opera, but they believe that someone else is using his title for their own sadistic and greedy means," he pled. "Please, you have to believe me!"

"Sure, I'll believe you when you turn up dead with a broken neck and a noose on," Charlie retorted as he got up and left the room. "Any diagnosis on what killed her?"

"It was an allergen, just as we suspected," a medic confirmed, passing along Carlisle's diagnosis. "She was allergic to teriyaki sauce, peanut oil, and eggs."

"That's one weird combination," Charlie said shaking his head and frowning. "Any ideas how long she'd been taking it?"

"Well, separate over time would only have weakened her immune system, but what killed her that day was the combination of the three without any other foods that day to use as distractions and dissolvent for her immune system."

"Well, I'm glad I have no clue how to cook," Charlie snorted, "Cuts down my probability of poisoning someone."

"Actually, that would increase it," he said sheepishly, and Charlie glared at him.

"Very funny," Charlie said sourly.

* * *

Um... review please?


	11. Chapter 11

25: Trouble Lurking

Sarah glared at her peers, filled with pure hatred since most of them were commenting on how stupid she looked as a guest since she was an eight year old kid that was supposedly running her own panel and show. After she ran away to a remote area of the convention, she began pummeling the living daylights out of a wall to the point that her knuckles were bloodied and bruised, even through the bandages.

"Do I even want to know?" someone asked, and Sarah looked up to find a voice actor from one of the newer series that she didn't yet recognize, probably one that was rated PG13.

"Does it matter anyways?" she asked, not realizing tears were going down her face. "Everybody but my adopted parents hates me."

"That may or may not be true," he said stepping towards her. "But you need to get your knuckles looked at and a pair of boxing gloves. Where are your parents? Do they know you're punching a wall to vent?"

"No, they're at another section putting on a show."

"Oh? Which ones?" he asked interested.

"Does it matter? They're just going to get mad at me like everybody else does for some stupid little thing that I apparently always manage to do wrong!"

"Hey, come on, kid," he said as he went about setting up chairs. "I've got a session coming up, couldn't you go back to your parents and tell them? Or maybe go back to the hotel room and bandage up your hands?"

"Nobody ever cares about me anyways unless I've become a masochist," she snorted. "Why should I?"

"Kid, let me put it this way, you're going to get me in huge amounts of trouble if I don't get you the medical attention you so desperately need."

"Are you saying I'm _insane_? Because I've been putting up with any and all insults that go along those lines ever since I was three years old!" she screamed angrily.

"Um, could you kids all do me a favor and spread out among the different panel supervisors right now and ask them which one is missing a kid?" he asked five different youths, who nodded and ran off to fulfill his request as quickly as they could.

"Well, it's not like anyone else is going to care anyways," she screamed at him. "All that anyone ever did, and still does, is insult me and tell me I'm a worthless freak of nature that can't do anything right! The only ones who don't do that are my adopted parents, and even then that's because I'm learning their trade!"

Dan was five minutes into his instruction demonstration on the main stage when someone ran up to him and began waving frantically in the front row of the crowd.

"What? What do you want, you insane yankee?!" he yelled out.

"There's an eight year old over across the way, did you lose one?" he asked pointing, and Dan and Jillian looked at each other.

"Yes, as a matter of fact we did," he said looking at the teen warily. "Why? Did she get herself into a fight?"

"Um… with something or another," he said warily. "Her knuckles were all red and one of the voice actors couldn't calm her down. She was in the farthest panel room."

"Oh dear," Dan said rubbing his temples. "Dear, do you want to go get her, or should I?"

"Well, I'm the one doing the demonstrating in this panel, but I think you should go get her," Jillian said crossing the stage. "Why don't I show them some of the cuts by means of the volunteer method while you go get her?"

"Or I can tell them the history of the Samurai, right?" Dan suggested, and she nodded.

"Yeah, sure, why not," she said leaving.

As soon as she was out the door of the main stage she was running at full speed towards the area that the teen had specified. Attendees were dodging and ducking out of the way as fast as they could when they saw Jillian coming, considering she was in Samurai garb and had a sword on her hip running with a scowl on her face.

"Jillian, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" one of the convention bosses yelled.

"Getting my child!" she yelled out as she screeched to a near halt and used her momentum on a wall corner to propel herself into the next hallway.

"What part of everybody hates me for who I really am do you not understand?! Everybody hates me when I act like myself because nobody likes me when I'm not cosplaying!" she heard Sarah screaming, and she screeched to a halt, her breathing heavy as she listened to the conversation.

"And it's no fucking wonder, you're a brat whose only concern is herself! You beat yourself up for attention by attacking a wall! Where the hell are your parents?! So help me, I will drag you to the registration and kick you out of the convention if you don't tell me!" the voice actor yelled angrily.

"Like I care!" Sarah screamed. "Everybody would just be happier that way since even my step-dad wanted me dead before he killed my mom and baby brother! You do that and you'll be finishing what he started!"

"Oh, god," Jillian gasped as she ran down the hallway and ran back as fast as she could, propelling herself around the corner.

"Lady Jillian, thank god, are you here to act as Security now?" the voice actor yelped as he saw her.

"Sarah, what the hell happened to your knuckles?!" Jillian yelped as she ran across the room and crouched beside her adopted child. "Who did this to you?"

"Oh, sure, blame everybody else," the voice actor snorted. "She did that to herself by punching the wall."

"Sarah, do we need to get you a pair of boxing gloves so you can practice that with Uncle Dan?" she asked, and the young girl looked away with tears in her eyes.

"Why's it matter anyways? Everybody else hates me except you two and a family I stayed with right after mommy died," she said trying to keep her tears in.

"That's not true! Whoever told you that is going to have to face my fury when we're done with the panels," she said shocked. "Nobody insults my little samurai and gets away with it!"

"This is _your _kid?!" the voice actor yelled. "_You _let this little gremlin out on the loose?!"

Jillian was whirled around facing him angrily in an instant, and he cringed backwards as he saw the furious Samurai.

"If you so much as breathe out one more word against my adopted child, or any of my children, I will personally get you kicked out of this convention by means of a sword fight," she said smiling evilly with a look of pure hatred coming from her eyes. "Come on, Sarah, let's get you to Uncle Dan so we can get you patched up."

Sarah glared back at the voice actor, her anger and hatred towards the world seeping out through her eyes, sending shivers down his spine. His eyes widened in fear as she disappeared around the corner, her eyes still smoldering with now-hidden ambitions for death.


	12. Chapter 12

64: Multi-Tasking

Sarah was hoisted onto Jillian's hip and then carried back to the main stage. As Jillian went through the halls this time, all avoided eye contact and again cleared a path, wide-eyed at the sight of a Samurai carrying an eight year old girl on her hip. The convention boss soon flanked Jillian and was about to protest when Sarah curled herself around her adopted mother and began crying her tiny eyes out, desperate for a release from the pains that she was hiding.

"Shh, it's okay," Jillian said rubbing her back. "We'll get you a pair of boxing gloves and a stand-up boxing thingy so you don't get hurt again baby girl."

Sarah hid her face behind her adopted mother's hair, having become so used to being ignored by her mother and step-father that any kind of love from a parental figure was welcome, no matter what the cause. Jillian was about to go into the stage room when she was stopped by the convention leader, or one of them.

"Jillian, you can't just go running down the hall like that with a sword on your hip!" the convention leader yelled.

"Do you have children? Wouldn't you do anything to keep them happy and safe, especially if you adopted them from a broken home where her only living relative that isn't in jail is you?" Jillian asked, and the convention leader nodded to both questions. "Well, then case in point."

"Yes, but to charge down the hall like that-!"

"I was told she was hurt, a good Samurai mother will always defend her children as much as possible, I was living what I was taught by my sensei like I'm supposed to, it's going to be a part of the demonstration."

"Yes, but-!"

"Yes, but what? Wouldn't you go charging across like that not even heeding what you were wearing or carrying if you were told your child was badly hurt, crying their eyes out, and literally making a bloody mess?"

"Well, yeah, but-!"

"But there is no more argument to be made, now if you don't mind I'd like to get my child the medical attention she needs before she bleeds all over my uniform," she said turning around and leaving. "And children understand more than you give them credit for!"

"Sarah! Good god, what happened to her?" Dan panicked as he saw his adopted daughter.

"Punched a wall," Sarah said as if nothing had happened.

"Yes, multiple times, now be still so mommy can fix you up," Jillian said crouching in front of her child.

"Why don't I do that while you demonstrate?" Dan asked as he strode over. "Besides, I want the whole story from her. I want to hear this."

"Yes, but I'm the one who knows how to bandage it, so you go demonstrate while I do the counting for once," she retorted with a laugh.

"Okay, fine," he said going to the center of the stage.

"I want daddy," Sarah whined, looking over at Dan.

"Daddy's not good at this like mommy is," Jillian said calmly. "Alright, Dan! Ichi! Nii! San! Shi! Go!"

Sarah winced and quivered her lip as Jillian began wrapping the bandages too tightly on her daughter's hands. Sarah pulled away as Jillian's attention was turned to Dan, and Jillian turned back to find her child gone again.

"Oh, god, not again," Jillian said standing up. "Dan, she's gone again!"

"What?! Crap, where-?!" he panicked as she pulled on the back of his shirt. "Oh, thank god she's okay…"

Sarah looked up at him and held up her hands in the classical "pick me up" pose, so Dan nimbly stepped backwards to sheath his sword. Before Jillian could say anything he picked his daughter up and held her close with his cheek on her forehead as he began rocking her back and forth while beginning to chant an old American folk song roughly translated into Japanese.

_Shizukesa. Papa wa  
mokkinbādo shutoku shimasu. _

_Sono tori wa utaimasen  
baai wa, ringu o erudeshou._

_Ringu wa shinchū ni natta baai wa,  
garasu o sagashite imasu yo._

"Really? You're going to sing that in Japanese?" Jillian asked, and he shot her a look.

"Hey, it was one from when I was a kid, okay?!" he called out to her. "I have fond memories of my mother with that song, and I have every intention of passing down the tradition!"

"Why not sing a traditional _Japanese_ lullaby instead of just a traditional American lullaby translated into Japanese?" she asked, and he blinked at her.

"Fine! I'll do the traditional Chugoku region lullaby!" he protested before returning to his singing.

_Nenneko shasshari mase,  
Neta ko no kawaisa.  
Okite naku ko no  
Nenkororo, tsura nikusa.  
Nenkororon, nenkororon._

Nenneko shasshari mase,  
Kyō wa nijūgo-nichi sa.  
Asu wa kono ko no,  
Nenkororo, Miya-mairi.  
Nenkororon, nenkororon.

Miya e maitta toki,  
Nan to yūte ogamu sa.  
Issho kono ko no,  
Nenkororo, mame 3ay ō ni.  
Nenkororon, nenkororon.

Sarah's whimpering had ceased by now and her eyes had mellowed out and become halfway closed. It wasn't long before Dan was crouched and checking the circulation to her fingers and finding it barely functional. He loosened up the bandages and began to fix them as Jillian was continuing to demonstrate while he explained the history of the sword-using some more.

"Papa, it hurts," Sarah said sleepily.

"I know, it's supposed to since it's bleeding," he said as he set her down on the edge of the stage. "Jillian, do you happen to have a medic?"

"Um… no," she said looking at him. "We need one, though…"

"Emergency first aid?" a security guard asked as she walked in.

"Ah, bloodied knuckles," Jillian said looking at Sarah.

"Easily handled," the security guard said calmly. "Although, I'll have to take her back to my office to get the job done better."

"Just bring her back in one piece and alive and in the same condition she was in when you picked her up!" Dan yelled as the security guard left with his adopted child in tow. "Is she limping?"

"Sarah? Yes, but only slightly," Jillian said calmly. "Eh, it's probably nothing that we can't fix back in the hotel room."

But an hour later as they were sitting with Sarah in Dan's lap up in their hotel room whimpering, they found that her ankle had been twisted to the point that it was probably broken.

"Maybe we should take her to a medic," Dan said looking down at his wife.

"That would be good," Jillian agreed. "Or we can just call a medical friend of ours with the diagnosis problems."

"True," Dan considered as he pulled out his phone.


	13. Chapter 13

88: Pain

Sarah was calm as she went to all of her parents' panels after that, always being mocked for not going around in cosplay. But as time went on, she became more and more adjusted, the painful sting of not having peers to hang out with making itself even more evident. Here she was in an anime convention and had nobody to hang out with and learn from aside from her parents, who didn't know the slightest thing about anime.

"Maybe we should get her a Samurai outfit," Jillian said one night as Sarah had crept to the edge of their hotel suite door to listen. "She was upset because people are always making fun of her for not being in cosplay, and it's a safety blanket for her."

"Yes, but we want her to get out of her habit of acting like the character, you want her to have a character persona of her own," Dan protested.

"True, but she might feel as though she _has _no character of her own and hides behind the cosplays to get one. Maybe she's so diverse that people started shunning her because she was too hyper, and then again once she calmed down and probably moved, only because she was too quiet."

"Or we can get her a Samurai outfit and tell her that Samurai were allowed to act however they wanted so long as they knew their trade and protected their homes."

"And obeyed their sensei's, because technically in Japanese society she would only be in training like she is now, I mean, she's only behind a year with a sword and four years from when she was three," Jillian pointed out. "Besides that, she's an emotional wreck. Maybe we should get her in therapy…"

"I don't know, Jillian," Dan said worried. "She seems… off, somehow. It's like she was destined to be a warrior, but at the same time she was destined to become something so much different."

"Well, either way, I'm getting her Samurai garb. And so help me we'll eventually get her a sword of her own."

Sarah withdrew and went to her room, looking at her bandaged bloody and bruised knuckles. It hurt a lot for her, and she'd only caused trouble for them ever since she'd gotten here.

"I'm more trouble than I'm worth," she murmured. "I wish angel were somehow here…"

The next day, a knock came at their hotel room door as Dan and Sarah were training. To their confusion, it was a mailman, and he held out a package to Jillian as she answered the door while Dan and Sarah continued their training regime. After signing for the package confused, Jillian went back inside to find Sarah crying yet again.

This routine would, for the most part, continue for the next several weeks for Sarah. Wake up, train while she cried or sang out her sorrows, and watch mommy and daddy fight with swords while occasionally showing you how to use a new move. Sorrow after sorrow built up seemingly endlessly.

Finally unable to take the strain, she disappeared into the night.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dan and Jillian awoke to find Sarah gone, her window wide open and everything strew about in a mess, not knowing that Erik had created his own version of a fight scene. With a jolt of shock and horror, they reported her missing just as soon as they could. Training became a problem for them since their minds kept wandering back to their lost child, one that they never would have been able to think of looking to as their own when they'd first taken her in.

"Where could she be?" Jillian worried. "what if-what if-?"

"There are a lot of 'what if' scenarios that I'd really prefer to keep unsaid and un-thought," Dan said looking out over the dawn. "All we can do is hope that she survives and comes home safely."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sarah looked out across the area that she was going to be staying in. she sighed and settled for a large bed of leaves to sleep on for the night. The only thing she'd gotten for the trip was a mass of ramen noodles, a pot, a pair of wooden chopsticks, and of course a blanket to keep herself warm in.

But as she continued to hike all the way out to her freedom, she never once forgot her parents or their protectiveness for her. but she also remembered the abuse that she'd suffered from her biological mother's husband, her step-father, Sean.

"_You take that back, you little bitch!" he'd yelled at last, ramming her against the wall and using his handcuffs to keep her still._

"_Let me go!" she yelled out, her seven-year old mind unable to process why she was in trouble this time when she'd done nothing wrong. She hadn't even said anything that time, which could only mean he was drunk again._

"_you'll only be getting off the hook when I tell you to go to your room!" he yelled as he began boiling a pot of water over the stove._

_But as he took the pot full of water as it finished boiling, setting a second one on the still-heated stovetop with a lid on it, she began writhing._

"_Say night-night, brat!" he sneered drunkenly before dumping the pot's boiling contents all over her back, burning it in the lightest degree but still making it so that she would have to go to a hospital for it eventually._

"_I hate you!" she'd screamed. "I hate you! I've always hated you, and I always will!"_

Sarah jolted awake shaking from the nightmare of her past, her body covered in sweat. But right as she was packing up her camp, who should show up except her step-father.

"You're in luck, brat," he snarled as he grabbed her arm. "You're coming back with me!"

"No!" she yelled, ramming her free fist into his groin.

"Shit!" he swore as he clutched at his privates before slamming her onto the ground. "You'll pay for that, brat!"

"No!" she yelled again, ramming a pocketknife that he was trying to use on her into his gut.

She ran as fast as she could to the nearest highway, and screamed as she was jerked backwards by her step-father.

"You're not getting away from me this time!" he yelled angrily, and she heard him unzipping his trousers.

"Angel, help me!" she screamed as loud as she could.


End file.
